Home Office: ODA-funded Support

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Tuesday 5th September 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I acknowledge some of the points that my noble friend has made. There has been disruption to the FCDO’s ODA budget. In addition to the additional £2.5 billion that was allocated to help to manage those, the publication of the FCDO’s provisional ODA allocations for 2024-25 demonstrates our commitment to openness and transparency, and enables FCDO teams and their partners across the world to forward-plan.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

The Minister referred to the Illegal Migration Act. The Home Office assumed that it would be able to score on ODA all the costs of the that Act, but it cannot. I asked for clarification of the consequences for the taxpayer of having to fill that gap for the cost of the Act from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Stewart of Dirleton, on 12 July. He did not reply on that day, so I wrote to him through the noble Lord, Lord Murray, on 14 July. I confirmed with his office just this afternoon that the letter had been received but I have not received a reply. I am glad that the Leader is in his place because he speaks passionately and sincerely about this House being able to do our constitutional duty and ask questions of the Government and hold them to account. The Home Office simply does not wish to reply to letters when it does not like the questions that are in them.

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) Regulations 2023

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Wednesday 19th July 2023 Grand Committee

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

I look forward to the Minister writing to me, because I was a little alarmed to hear her say—if I heard her correctly—that the UK would work with Sudan on this. There is no one to work with in Sudan at the moment and, if a case cannot be made for the UK not to act on Sudan, which has a civil war, with two warring partners and with considerable financial interests on each side—SAF and RSF—then I cannot see a case that would be stronger.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

I will write on Sudan to the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, as I committed to do, and I will copy in the Members in this debate.

The UAE is making swift progress on its FATF action plan. It has several actions still to complete, focused on money laundering investigations, transparency of beneficial ownership and the investigation of money laundering cases. We hope to see further progress on those areas, as it looks to deliver on its action plan.

I have not managed to cover in detail all the points raised by noble Lords. They have gone slightly wider than the countries in question on the listing today, but I understand noble Lords’ interest in the process that we use to update these lists, adhering to international standards. I will read Hansard and ensure that I write to noble Lords if I have not addressed any questions.

Postal Packets (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2023

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Wednesday 19th July 2023 Grand Committee

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The Windsor Framework is a bilateral agreement. To the noble Lord’s point, there are detailed governance arrangements around the Windsor Framework. Either side can raise issues through those mechanisms. It is not the case that the EU could just impose new requirements without consultation. Of course, the Stormont brake will be available to the Northern Ireland Assembly, when it is sitting.

With regards to the lack of an impact assessment, that point takes me back to what this statutory instrument itself does. It does not impose any requirements on businesses; it is solely about the powers for HMRC and Border Force. The Government are dealing with the resources available to those agencies in the normal way. I cannot remember who asked about this—it was the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie of Downpatrick, I think—but we will of course ensure that resources are available, in particular to HMRC, to ensure that these agencies can engage with businesses in order to ensure that the process is as smooth as possible.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

I understand the Minister’s point with regards to the powers for HMRC under these regulations, but it assumes that HMRC will not then use those powers to ask businesses to carry out certain procedures. If that is the case, there will be an impact on businesses. Secondly, my reading of Regulation 3 is that, for the first time, a postal packet going from GB to Northern Ireland will now be categorised alongside a foreign postal packet. That is what the regulation says.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

Again, that takes me back to what these regulations do versus the wider process around how parcels will move under the Windsor Framework. These powers do not and cannot do anything to impose anything on businesses.

I come to a few of the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, about understanding and beginning to quantify how the new process will work. It is not possible to give precise numbers on volumes of parcels and how they will fall into the different lanes, because volumes are not consistent year on year. However, based on estimates and commercial information provided by the parcel industry, we understand that about 5% of parcels are sent from business to business, with 90% moving from businesses to consumers and 5% from individuals to individuals. Based on those figures, for 95% of movements no difference will be felt in how customs operate now, under the easement that we have to the protocol. Compared to the protocol itself, they will face significantly fewer burdens.

There will be no routine checks or controls applied to consignments, with interventions made only on a risk-based, intelligence-led approach. This is decided by HMRC and Border Force. We expect a very small proportion of parcels to be checked or opened, only when there is reason to suspect circumvention of the rules.

The 5% of business-to-business goods will be treated the same, as if they were moving in freight. They can access the UK internal market scheme and the green lane, and they will benefit from radically reduced checks and data requirements compared to those under the protocol. Businesses can apply to HMRC to become a trusted trader and access the green lane. It is a simple process. Tens of thousands of traders are already in the scheme, and the Windsor Framework extends eligibility to it further. New arrangements under the framework are being phased in over nearly two and a half years. We will continue to use that time to undertake extensive engagement with stakeholders, including businesses in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, trader support services and parcel operators, to provide support and ensure that everyone is ready.

Wagner Group: Sanctions Regime

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Thursday 26th January 2023 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury (Baroness Penn) (Con)]

My Lords, to try to take the noble Lord’s questions on directly, the Government condemn the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation, commonly known as SLAPPs. The Prigozhin case can be characterised as a SLAPP, which is an abuse of the UK legal system. We are committed to introducing targeted anti-SLAPP legislation to stop Russian oligarchs corrupting our legal system. The reforms will include a statutory definition of SLAPPs, an early dismissal mechanism and costs protection for SLAPPs cases.

When it comes to the sanctions and licensing regimes, where there are derogations set out in the sanctions regime and the conditions of those derogations have been met, licences may be authorised. There is a specific derogation for legal expenses which is judged on the cost of those expenses, not the merits of any legal case. None the less, I agree with the point that the noble Lord has made: we need to take action in these cases, and the Government are committed to doing so.

On other licences for legal fees, this is a derogation that applies across the sanctions regime so there will be multiple licences issued. There is a general licence available for legal fees and that decision is, on the whole, taken by officials rather than Ministers.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I have seen Wagner operatives with my own eyes in Sudan. I was the first in Parliament to call for that group’s proscription. I did so to Ministers in this Chamber on 25 April; I did so again on 23 May, 9 June, 7 July, 15 November and, most recently, 21 December. It is an outrage that a licence from the Treasury has allowed this group to launder money through the English legal system on palpably malicious legal activities. As the Minister has just said, it is an abuse of the system. Why are the Government procrastinating on national security grounds? This group is a threat to our security and our safety, to British nationals abroad and to our allies. Why is this group not being proscribed?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, it is worth clarifying a number of points. In this case, we are talking about a designated person and the derogations under the sanctions regime allow for legal fees. That is clearly provided for within the sanctions regime. I understand that the Wagner Group is subject to sanctions under the Russia sanctions. On the question of proscription, I will have to write to the noble Lord.

Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Monday 25th April 2022 Grand Committee

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, the Government recognise the threat that economic crime poses to the UK and to our international partners, and are committed to combatting money laundering and terrorist financing.

Illicit finance causes significant social and economic costs through its links to serious and organised crime. It is a threat to our national security, and it risks damaging our international reputation as a fair and open rules-based economy. It also undermines the integrity and stability of our financial sector and can reduce opportunities for legitimate businesses in the UK.

That is why we are taking significant action to combat economic crime, including legislating for the economic crime levy and the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, and progressing the Government’s landmark economic crime plan. We are also working closely with the private sector and our international partners to improve the investigation of economic crime, strengthen international standards on corporate transparency and crack down on illicit financial flows.

The money laundering regulations support our overall efforts. As the UK’s core legislative framework for tackling money laundering and terrorist financing, they set out various measures that businesses must take to protect the UK from illicit financial flows. Under the regulations, businesses are required to conduct enhanced checks on business relationships and transactions with high-risk third countries. These are countries that are identified as having strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing regimes that could pose a significant threat to the UK’s financial system.

This statutory instrument amends the money laundering regulations to update the UK’s list of high-risk third countries by adding the United Arab Emirates and removing Zimbabwe from the list. This is to mirror lists published by the Financial Action Task Force, the global standard setter for anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing. As the Financial Action Task Force carries out its periodic reviews and regularly updates its public lists of jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies, we also need to update our own. Updating our list shows that we are responsive to the latest economic crime threats and ensures that the UK remains at the forefront of global standards on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing.

This amendment will enable the money laundering regulations to continue to work as effectively as possible to protect the UK financial system. It is crucial for protecting UK businesses and the financial system from money launderers and terrorist financiers. I therefore hope that noble Lords will join me in supporting this legislation. I beg to move.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I support these measures. My noble friend Lady Kramer has been suffering from Covid, as, regrettably, are so many colleagues. She would ordinarily have been here, and I wish her the best and a speedy recovery and return as soon as possible. I spoke to the previous set of measures involving a change to the list when the orders were brought to remove Botswana, Ghana and Mauritius, and I took the opportunity to ask the noble Lord, Lord Agnew, questions about how robust our internal systems were with regard to organised financial crime and the interaction between drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorist activities.

At the time, I also asked when we were likely to get the register of beneficial ownership. It shows how fast time flies, as he is no longer the designated Minister for financial crime and we have moved ahead in so many of these areas. We may well do, but I should be interested to know whether, after the more recent changes in government, we have a Minister with a designated portfolio who has taken over from the noble Lord on money laundering and financial crime. I know it is normal practice that these instruments and schedules are signed off by Government Whips rather than Ministers—the previous ones were too—but I should be grateful to know how that is structured in government.

However, I am grateful to the Minister for introducing these regulations. If she will tolerate me asking a number of questions, I would like to do so because these measures make changes with regards to individual countries and are also a policy change. Apparently, the Government will now automatically use an external set of decision-making for the classification of countries in the grey category by the FATF, the Financial Action Task Force. We have also been told repeatedly that we are moving away from the European Union’s approach, in which we would take the Commission’s view, so that we have the freedom to set our own approach. However, it seems as if one of our very first acts in having that new freedom is to give it away to another organisation for it to make some decisions on our behalf. I would be interested to know the rationale for that. In the Explanatory Memorandum, the Government simply say that, because we are aligned to the FATF, it makes sense for us to copy it for efficiency purposes. However, we were previously aligned to our European colleagues; I am not really sure what has changed.

One consequence of this, of course, is the change of countries. In particular, there is a difference in Zimbabwe because, as has been stated, it has been removed. I would be interested to know what the Government’s representations are, or what the position of UK Ministers is, in the FATF. I understand that it met at a ministerial level last week; I was in Washington while that was taking place. Given that there is Russian investment in Zimbabwe, particularly in mining, and given our interaction with Russia in terms of our sanctions, I am interested to know why decisions have been made with regards to Zimbabwe that may have a negative effect on our reducing the possibility of money laundering—especially when it comes to those who are investing in mineral extraction in these countries—and on trading. I would hate to think that one of the first actions of this measure was to create potential loopholes for Russia.

In that regard, there are new countries on the list. I support that but I see that, for Haiti, Mali, Malta, the Philippines, South Sudan, Turkey and the UAE, there is a difference of approach. In a previous debate on our sanctions regime, I singled out a mercenary group that is under the pay of the Kremlin: the Wagner Group. I have seen it at first hand, on a visit to Khartoum. I know that it is active in Mali, Chad and the Central African Republic, but it also operates in other countries. I am on the record as asking for the process to be started to proscribe the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation. It would then be under the proscription legislation and would come within this legislation. With Mali being a high-risk third country, I would be interested to know how that interacts with our work in seeking to reduce the scope of the mercenary operations from Russia. I hope that there are no gaps between the way we would operate under this approach and the FATF and our sanctions legislation. The destabilising work of that group in particular needs to be stopped; the UK can play a significant role in that.

With regard to the UAE, I am interested in the lack of information I have seen from the DIT on GOV.UK to inform those operating in our 19th-largest market that this measure is now in place. I understand that there will obviously be a lag in information when legislation has been put in place, but this had been signalled a fair bit in advance. I have seen plenty of government promotional material highlighting the £10 billion UK investment partnership with the UAE sovereign wealth fund, but there is a lack of information stating that the UAE is now in an at-risk category as far as doing trade in that area is concerned.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

The Minister is being very thorough in responding, and I am grateful. Could she write to me in answer to my next question? I do not expect her to reply now. It has been helpful for her to outline the FATF’s position on the UAE, but it is worrying if 10 out of the 11 are within this area of concern. Does the UK sovereign investment partnership with the UAE include elements seeking that the UAE makes progress on the areas that have been highlighted? It is worrying if a partnership investment worth £10 billion does not have within it mechanisms to make progress on areas where we have inserted that country into a high-risk category while having financial investment relationships with that very entity. The Minister does not have to answer that now if she does not want to. I do not expect to her to answer it now, but I shall be very happy if she wishes to write to me.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

What I can do now is talk about the UK’s role and influence at the FATF, which in turn works with countries on the lists that we are discussing, to improve their performance. The UK as a founding member plays a leading role through its place on the FATF’s steering group, and makes significant voluntary financial contributions to the FATF and its global network on core projects and through extensive involvement in the FATF assessment. So the UK is absolutely committed through that channel to improving countries’ performances. I shall write to the noble Lord on his specific point about the UK’s sovereign investment partnership. If he will forgive me, I will also write to him on the specific points he raised in relation to Mali and other specifics in that area.

The noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, asked about an update on the situation in Afghanistan and how the UK is keeping these matters under review. The UK is absolutely keeping the evolving situation in Afghanistan under review, and we continue to work with public and private sector partners to maintain an up-to-date understanding of money laundering and terrorist financing risks in that country.

The noble Lord also asked about how the current deterrents of sanctions on money laundering from Russia will be factored into the eventual winding down of sanctions. In lockstep with our allies, we are introducing the largest and most severe economic sanctions that Russia has ever faced to help to cripple Putin’s war machine. These co-ordinated sanctions go broader, deeper and sharper in punishing the actions of Putin and the Russian Government. They are having an impact on Russia’s economy; Putin has acknowledged the problems and difficulties caused by sanctions. Current estimates are that two-thirds of the assets available to the Russian Government have been frozen, strangling access to funding for military aggression.

We are particularly starving Russia’s access to finance, with asset freezes on major banks including Russia’s largest bank and the removal of selected banks from SWIFT. We have sanctioned Russia’s largest banks with global assets worth £500 billion pre-invasion. Since the invasion, we have also sanctioned well over 1,400 high-value individuals, entities and subsidiaries. However, we are not complacent and will continue to revise and reform our response to illicit finance to ensure that, as illicit finance threats evolve, our response does too. As the noble Lord noted, we brought forward the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act and we are preparing a wider economic crime Bill at pace. This is alongside a new kleptocracy cell in the National Crime Agency to target sanctions evasion and corrupt Russian assets hidden in the UK. That means that oligarchs in London will have nowhere to hide.

As I just touched on, the noble Lord asked about the implementation of the measures in the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act, specifically on the overseas entities register. Since the legislation received Royal Assent, the Government have been working at pace to ensure the register is in place as soon as reasonably practicable. The Companies House digital designs team is making strong progress in building the register for operational readiness.

The noble Lord also asked about the planned economic crime Bill part two. We have published details of upcoming legislation, including fundamental reform of Companies House, enhanced information-sharing powers and new powers to seize crypto assets which are designed to clamp down on money laundering and illicit finance. We do not have long to wait for the Queen’s Speech at this stage, when I am sure more information will then be made available.

The noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, made a final point on Explanatory Memorandums. His point is well made that we often discuss quite technical matters in this Committee, sometimes at short notice, and therefore the Explanatory Memorandums are incredibly important to noble Lords. Of course, it was not the fault of the official named that their contact details were not there, and it is for Ministers to ultimately take responsibility for the information provided to Parliament. On the noble Lord’s specific question about the standards for Explanatory Memorandums, I will undertake to write to him if he permits me to. With that, I beg to move.

United Kingdom Internal Market Bill

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Report stage & Report: 3rd sitting (Hansard) & Report: 3rd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Wednesday 25th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The noble Lord will probably be unsurprised to know that the advice I have received has not changed in the short time since he asked his further question. I will commit to reviewing that advice; if any part of it was not accurate, I will write to the noble Lord. My understanding is that those reviews do not refer to the powers in this Bill, and whether the devolved Administrations or others can refer matters to the CMA for review relates to other parts of this Bill.

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

The Minister gave a number of examples of how the UK Government are currently able, under their powers, to fund UK priorities across all parts of the United Kingdom. The Government do not have the legislative powers to spend on devolved areas within devolved competencies. What powers are the Government seeking to have by January next year for them to spend on devolved policy areas in our devolved nations?

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

The Government are seeking the power under this Bill to spend across the whole of the United Kingdom in the areas set out in the Bill. The operation of the £220 million announced at the spending review will start from the next financial year and the full shared prosperity fund will begin the year after. More detail on how that will operate will be set out in due course.

United Kingdom Internal Market Bill

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Committee stage & Committee: 3rd sitting (Hansard) & Committee: 3rd sitting (Hansard): House of Lords
Monday 2nd November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

My Lords, I will focus on whether Clause 48 should stand part, as my noble friends have done on this group. In so doing, I shall comment on the contributions. I agree with my noble friend Lady Randerson, who said that the contribution of the noble Lord, Lord Dunlop, was very important. I hope that the Government Front Bench was listening very carefully to that contribution. I see the Minister nodding, and that is very positive.

I looked again at the Explanatory Notes for Clause 48. It is quite telling that the Government are seeking financial assistance powers. I wondered for whom. The Explanatory Notes state that the power to provide financial assistance enables

“the UK Government to provide funding to local authorities, sectoral organisations, community groups, educational institutions and other bodies and persons in order to support and promote these policy areas across the UK.”

It is very telling that there is no mention of the devolved Administrations. It is fairly obvious that the Government’s intention is to have powers which effectively go over the devolved competencies of the nations, because in many respects the areas that had European structural funds are within the devolved competences. As the noble Lord, Lord Dunlop, and others indicated, there is no mention in the Bill of concurrent or shared expenditure, or of supporting joint policy initiatives. This is against the thrust of what we have had over the past 20 years with devolution.

This is not purely about devolution, because this affects developments within England too, such as growth deals and city partnerships. This expenditure will go beyond the structures that have already been agreed, and in many respects all those aspects have been included in the multiannual financial frameworks of the European structural funds. So it right to ask: what is the purpose of this? If this is the mechanism through which the shared prosperity fund will be delivered, why is there no reference to the shared prosperity fund? Why is the scope of the legislation far beyond what the Government said in their 2019 manifesto about a national skills fund? Why is there no reference to the delivery mechanisms that the Government have indicated should be in place for the shared prosperity fund? Or does the legislation seek to go beyond the shared prosperity fund? There is no statement in the Explanatory Note and there is no framework in the legislation for how that expenditure will be committed.

The sums are huge, as was mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, who I am glad introduced this group. I rely on the House of Commons briefing paper from September this year to give the figures. In 2018, public and private sector organisations in the UK received £5.9 billion from the EU, through various channels. On top of that, we received £4.4 billion for UK projects on infrastructure, some supporting the growth of employment, from the European Investment Bank. That is included within this clause of the legislation, but we know that UK support from the European Investment Bank will no longer be available, so what is the source of this expenditure to support infrastructure investment? How will infrastructure investment from loans or grants be delivered?

As the noble Lord, Lord Dunlop, and other noble Lords have said, to date, most expenditure has been allocated to member states and then managed through our devolved Administrations, regional partnerships or local authorities. Until this point, 76% of all European investment has been allocated, first, to the member state to manage—and then it has gone through our existing frameworks. If there is to be a new system to deliver that level of expenditure, separate from our existing delivery and accountability mechanisms, the Government need to say so.

Until now, in the multiannual financial framework 2014-20, the UK partnership agreement gave granular detail—it is a 373-page document—for all projects and where they are, with a chapter for UK-wide expenditure, and chapters for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar. Interestingly, Gibraltar is included in this, but there is no reference in the scope of the legislation to providing financial assistance to Gibraltar, so the poor Gibraltarians have been completely dropped off the ability to support.

In their manifesto, the Government said about the shared prosperity fund:

“We will consult widely on the design of the fund, including with the devolved administrations, local authorities, businesses and public bodies.”


It was to be finalised after the comprehensive spending review. That has been delayed, for understandable reasons, but can the Minister state when the conclusion of the design of the fund will be published? If the shared prosperity fund is to be in place from April 2021, as the Government said in their 2019 manifesto, it leaves little time for our public bodies, which will be managing it, to operate. If it is not the intention of the Government for our public bodies to administer it, what central government structures will be in place to administer this fund? Why does this legislation have some areas that go beyond what the Conservative manifesto said, which was that it would be spent on skills?

Secondly, as was referenced by the noble Lord, Lord Dunlop, how do the intended powers of this legislation impact on the statement of funding policy? The statement of funding policy is the core document on financial relationships. It has population proportions expenditure and comparability factors, and it is applied to all spending and spending rounds. How does this power interact with the statement of funding policy? Will it be over the top of regional strategies? How will it be accounted for in the recipient public bodies? If it is to go to local authorities, how will it impact their accounting? If it goes directly to local authorities, how will it go to those areas?

I close with a tangible example. We heard references from colleagues from Wales and across England. I live in the Scottish Borders which, using the NUTS2 areas, has the lowest GVA per head in the United Kingdom, at 59.3% of the UK average. Outer London has 67.9% of the UK average. Under the Government’s current proposals, an area such as the Scottish Borders will not be eligible for this kind of support. Will the Government ensure that this funding is aligned to not only devolved but local authority strategies? Will it be aligned with the state aid maps? This separate approach will be beneficial for our country only if it is consistent with and supports our existing policies and strategies, at a local, regional and national level.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, this Government are determined to deliver on the commitments upon which they were elected: levelling up the whole United Kingdom, delivering prosperity for all citizens and strengthening the ties that bind our union together. Part 6 of the Bill helps to achieve this. This power to provide financial assistance will enable spending in the areas of infrastructure, economic development, culture and sport. It will also support educational and training activities, and exchanges within the UK and internationally. Previously, as noble Lords have noted, much of this was done at the EU level.

I reassure the noble Lord, Lord Bruce, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, and the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, among others, that over the course of discussion and debate on this Bill, throughout Parliament and beyond, the Government have repeated our intention to work with the devolved Administrations. This power, in addition to existing powers, will allow the UK Government to complement and strengthen the support given to citizens in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, without taking away devolved Administrations’ responsibilities.

As noble Lords have noted, the response to Covid has shown how the UK Government, alongside important co-operation with the devolved Administrations, can save jobs and support communities. This could only have been delivered strategically and at that scale by the UK Government. This power will ensure that we can invest UK taxpayers’ money nationwide on UK priorities as we leave the transition period, as well as supporting people and businesses across the UK to recover from Covid.

The UK Government are uniquely positioned to level up across every part of the UK, ensuring that the entire country can feel the benefit of increased trade, improved business conditions and a truly global economy. The power to provide financial assistance will facilitate this. Noble Lords will know that these aims support the Government’s manifesto commitments to strengthen the union, level up the country and match the current levels of EU structural funding in each nation through a UK-wide replacement programme—the UK shared prosperity fund. That is why I commend this clause to stand part of the Bill.

I will now discuss Amendments 167, 168 and 132. Collectively, they seek to remove the power to provide financial assistance in Part 6 of the Bill and replace it with provisions for the operation of a UK shared prosperity commission, detailed in a proposed new schedule. Let me begin by emphasising that the power to provide financial assistance in Part 6 would operate UK-wide to support a variety of purposes. This includes economic development but is not limited to it. It is therefore wider than any single fund or organisation. I say this in response to the question of the noble Lord, Lord Purvis, about the purposes of the power.

The effect of these amendments would be that the Bill would not confer on the UK Government the power to provide financial assistance UK-wide for infrastructure, economic development, culture or sport, or to support educational and training activities and exchanges within the UK and internationally. Although the UK Government have some existing powers to spend across the whole UK, the power we are taking now creates a unified power that operates consistently UK-wide, to deliver investment more flexibly, dynamically and in partnership with the devolved Administrations and other partners. Part 6 will make sure that the UK Government are well positioned to deliver investments following the end of the transition period, and to meet their commitment to replace EU structural funds.

I understand that the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, tabled his amendment to probe the Government’s plans on this and I hope to be able to provide some answers. On the level of funding, the Government committed in their manifesto to maintaining, as I already said, at a minimum the existing levels of investment across all four nations from the EU structural funds. The noble Lord is correct that this was based not on Barnett but on an EU formula. In future, the UK can ensure that funding reflects the needs of the UK, not the 27 other member states, as this work is taken forwards. He is also correct that there are a number of ways in which this funding could be done but, if I may reassure noble Lords about the purpose of the funding, the Government have been clear on their aim: to tackle inequality and deprivation, and level up across the United Kingdom.

On timing, the noble Lord, Lord Stevenson, is right that to prioritise the response to Covid-19 and focus on supporting jobs, the multi-year spending review has been postponed. But he is also correct that we have some time, as EU funds are still being provided. Our aim is to ensure a smooth transition from current EU structural funds to the UK shared prosperity fund.

Banks: Internet Transfers of Cash

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Thursday 9th July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed (LD)]

In 2018, push payment scams meant that 84,000 victims lost £354 million in lost funds. The European revised payment services directive is due to come into force in the EU on 31 December 2020 to combat this, but for the UK this has been delayed again, until September next year. Why do the Government think that UK customers should be more vulnerable to online fraud and scams than those within the European Union?

[Baroness Penn]

My Lords, the UK takes all fraud, including APP fraud, extremely seriously. In the UK, we have set up the contingent reimbursement model code for APP scams, which ensures that, where victims are of no blame, they are refunded the payments that they lost out on.

Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2020

Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Purvis of Tweed

Thursday 25th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Purvis of Tweed]

Before the Minister sits down, the noble Baroness, Lady Thornton, made a very good intervention—

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

To clarify the Procedure Committee guidance, as agreed by the House:

“All members participating need to be included on the published Speakers’ List and members are not able to intervene spontaneously during business”.


This is not designed to limit the participation of Members in proceedings. It is under the section headed “Parity of treatment” between those online and those in the Chamber, to ensure that there is no difference in the ability of those online to participate. I hope noble Lords appreciate and understand that.